Wow, people still talk about doorway pages? Turns out, that answer is “yes,” and Google has changed how they define them (which doesn’t make sense to me – I always thought of doorway pages as copy that’s been optimized for one keyterm for the sole purpose of driving traffic.)

I suppose, like leg warmers, neon and parachute pants, doorway pages have to come back in vogue. People discuss them in forums as a new, easy way to generate content. Sure, the new brand of doorway pages may seem sexier, have a different name or enjoy a cutting edge reputation (better design – yeah!). But they still won’t help you convert. Nor will the search engines respect them as “real content.” Spam has been…and will always be…spam.

Side note with doorway pages: Where I see folks inadvertently do this is around local content pages. Say your bank has 10 branches scattered around Washington State. Some banks create the same sales copy for all locations, and simply swap out the city name. Easy strategy, bad planning. Instead, create custom pages for all locations. Besides, including references to local attractions shows that you’re involved in your community – and this can be a major selling point for folks who prefer to “buy local.”

They may be, but they’ve been against best practices since the “old days.” I would never recommend them, nor would any “oldtimer” SEO that I know. Any company who uses them runs the risk of being hit with a spam penalty or delisting – and it’s just not worth it.